San Francisco real estate news-1188 Lombard Street at Larkin is listed at $6,950,000 (one of 3 houses listed just last week at over 5 million)
But what do you get for that?
You get a house on top of Russian Hill - 3 bedrooms- Mediterranean-style.
But to me it is more the interior decoration that I would be interested in keeping with the house (too bad it doesn't come with the house) It is MUSEUM quality Michael Taylor interior design for the owner-Mr. Byron Meyer- decorated in 1974.
Images are from 2 books: San Francisco, A Certain Style by Diane Dorrans Saeks (published in 1989) with photos by the late photographer John Vaughan.
The second book is Michael Taylor Interior Design- the latest book by Stephen Salny with photo credit to Russell MacMasters
(I am going to digress just for a second here- I think that it is really important to give proper credit to the writers and photographers when using these images on blogs. I am only adding this in there- as a lot of bloggers don't even put any credit in at all. IT is the right thing to do- so I encourage other bloggers to be better at this)
Last week I had the privilege of seeing this interior in perfect condition. Having never had the honor of meeting Michael Taylor- just walking around the house I felt like I got to know him up close and personal.
I regret that I was banned from any new photos of what it currently looks like (but it is untouched- the fabrics and everything look brand new. It is as if Mr. Meyer never lived there and it was sealed off since 1974!)
A bit of San Francisco history and design history- to actually see a Michael Taylor project that is still all together and never been touched!
In a way it is sad- as when the house sells- a part of history will be gone...
A bit on Mr. Meyer and Michael Taylor:
Michael Taylor decorated the 1930's Mediterranean-style villa on Russian Hill which Meyer's purchased in 1974. From what I have read and heard- the house was filled with wall to wall pile carpets and velvet drapes. Meyer wanted a monochromatic interior to display his notable collection of contemporary art (who has the MOST impressive art collection- Diebenkorn, Robert Arneson, Sam Francis, Robert Hudson, Roy De Forest (the painting above the sofa) Ed Ruscha, Billy Al Bengston, Wayne Thiebuad and Peter Voulkos).
The paint on the walls was mixed with mud and applied by a trowel to linen canvas wall- creating a textured look (cutting edge in 1974- before they did things like this on HGTV)
The monochromatic palette is layered with textures- including English rolled armchairs and sofas in natural-colored Indian silk- which Taylor suggested to Meyer- as it looked like ordinary burlap.
Interestingly- the design of the interior that Meyer wanted was for the interior to have a "poor" look in a way as the economy was bad at the time. Taylor thought that no one would ever know that it was silk instead of burlap. The nubby fabric was used in the living room as well as the luxurious bedroom.
The flooring was in sisal and side chairs-bleached Louis XV fauteuils upholstered in soft calfskin leather.
By using the Ficus Benjamina trees and the white sandstone Regence mantel- these made everything in the room feel bigger.
Signature fossil- stone was used as side tables and the custom made dining table.
So if you have an extra couple of million-check out-1188 Lombard at Larkin in San Francisco
2 comments:
I always love the posts that combine real estate with design!
How is that price? It seems reasonable for that area of San Francisco, as much as a $6 million plus home can be considered reasonable. I keep hearing how much the prices in San Francisco have come down, so I was curious what this would have been listed for at its peak.
This was fascinating--amazing details and photos. Ho did you go about researching this post down to the artists in the collection? Well, no matter--it was really fun and please keep up the great posts!
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